that initial indications are good. i feel really good. we will walk out here with the winner tonight. a long time coming. we have been working on this five years now. ready to go. neil: breaking news and results coming in from michigan. it will not be for mitt romney. this is a state that he thought he might sort of surprise the polls and went. a two-time governor. a very influential candid it. his son hoping to avenge all of that tonight. but his opposition to that of a bailout might have cost him dearly. exit polls indicated that among many, the union heavy state, that opposition did hurt him, and even though he had argued that a formal bankruptcy was in order, and that is what this rescue of the auto industry turned out to be, bankruptcy top $50 billion with the taxpayer

support, for a lot of michigan residents that trumped whenever favorite sun status mitt romney could have gained. one of the states. mitt romney was expected to lose, but that put an asterisk next to it this. the romney folks are hoping to win to offset the possibility. just the possibility of a loss in ohio. there in late the argument. be picked up michigan, iowa, make up for the 18 votes, presumably lost an ohio. that does not mean that he goes for mitt romney. one of those hope for pickups that did not materialize. the argument goes that you could lose that but not necessarily lose the election. we'll see. texas not a big surprise. mitt romney picking up that state handily, redistricting a big factor. to expect a number of republican congressional pickups in the state that might offset

democratic pickups in the state of illinois, two very different examples, one going republican, the other democrat. louisiana, he was telling me he would deliver the state for mitt romney, and he has, but that is not a shock. as we are getting the role of the 156 electoral votes, a dozen or so states closing of the nine pr. kansas' as expected. expected to go to mitt romney. handily. north dakota as well. plus leave the case. not always the case, but i guess in the recent election, maybe the past four it has been the case. north dakota, no shocker there. s.d., same story. george mcgovern. 1972 democratic presidential candidate passed away recently. the state going for mitt romney

and comfortably so. wyoming, of course, expected to be easily elected tonight. a separate issue. that would not be applicable in way or another. just a confirmation of some republican that state is. nebraska right now competing for his old job. he has an uphill battle. mitt romney does not. he wins the state of nebraska. so there you have it. at this juncture if we were sad this up, new york, again, i don't think this would represent a remote shocker unless we wanted to fool you and put a check mark next to mitt romney and you would be doping and whenever you are drinking or chewing right now, but it is not to be the case. barack obama handily picks up the state of new york. here we be. 149 in a tour of those for mitt romney. 127 for barack obama. rough calculation of the popular vote that has come and. it favors mitt romney by about a 51-49 percent margin.

i hasten, and i mean quickly hastens at, that is my mastermind i have been known to use fingers and toes is a speculative stock. to not put great stock in it. wisconsin will be another one of those states to watch. wisconsin is one of those alternative romney place if you lose ohio. let me explain this briefly. pick up to and in wisconsin thanks to paul ryan being a running mate. maybe pick up the six in iowa. an uphill battle. polls show the president leading by five points are so. that is how you, altogether 16 electoral votes to offset the 18 you potentially lose in ohio. anyone's guess, but something will pursue now with sarah palin who remembers the pressure of this night four years ago. very good to have you. thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much. nice to speak with you. neil: have you think it is going? >> well, as predicted, very,

very close. i was just trying to pay as close attention as i could to your commentary, trying to hear what you were saying about ohio. that, of course, is a bit of a bellwether and very pivotal. what is new with ohio, maybe you have a better update and i do. neil: as i try to say, it's hard with all these different states coming in. too close to call. you know, there is a strategy that the romney folks have. if they were to lose ohio, i should stress, you know this better than anybody, the first numbers that come in of the early voters, and there are a lot of them. i don't know whether that is at or around the ratio that most of those coming in, but we knew that would be strong for the president. i don't know if that is stronger or not as strong, but it is strong. we have not actually gotten day of those, so that remains to be seen. we do know that they hope for pick up for mitt romney in michigan did not materialize tonight.

to you think the opposition to the of the bailout heard him? could it hurt him in ohio? >> i think the media narrative about his position on the auto bailout hurt him because he was not able to kind of redefine the message. the message was that he did not want to see the auto industry fail. those blue-collar areas especially, but those early on ads, especially the early on main s were very powerful. you couple those with the media's narrative that i think really stretch the truth in terms of what he felt was the solution to the auto industry challenged in america, and he was not able to redefine himself in those areas. blue-collar areas, people want to believe that their leader in the white house would be there for them and would do all that they could to make sure how that the industry would be their for their children's jobs. neil: do you get a sense,

governor, that the of the bailout, if it costs the romney folks michigan and it could hurt them in some of the real union strongholds in ohio, enough to compensate or white however gain romney was experiencing with independent voters, that that, and his explanation for his opposition will come back to really hurt him tonight. >> i think that key in this election has been the other bailout. and romney is handling -- at least the answers to the questions about what would you have done had he been president and the auto industry was suffering as greatly as it was, his handling of the questions and his campaign handling of the questions was not as powerful as it should have been. and, you know, that's not to be pessimistic throughout the rest of the night and concede that

this is a lost cause for romney heaven forbid because if romney does not when we will see a catastrophic setback in our economy if obama is back in there, but i think the auto industry issues in the ohio, michigan especially have been absolutely paramount. neil: at a minimum. thank you. always a pleasure. appreciate it. >> thank you. neil: governor sarah palin in this nail biting opposition four years ago as a running mate of john mccain. both camps kind of know the whisper numbers and what they want and need to know whether they're getting close. i told you about that michigan think. that was a hope for pickups that did not materialize. that does not mean that they still can't win by any means. a lot of the polls that we are getting tell us the romney folks have made significant inroads among independents, and are winning over independence. of course winning over with very

big crowds, popping up in virginia. that does not mean they are all romney crowds, but a good many of them as strong republican areas that were so long and lines so substantial that they kept voting precincts open to keep this going. we are also showing you that jesse jackson jr., the son of the rev. jesse jackson holding on to his illinois house seats. of course he has been fighting depression to map out of public view for months now. and so the republican opponents thought, well, i might be able to unseat this guy. look at that margin. even with a guy who did not campaign. essentially being hospitalized about the public view completely you know, complete confusion. what's going on. no accounting for what he's doing. no accounting for the status of his health, and he still wins in the walk. as we go through some of the other races, we can look at the

texas senate. ted crews will pick up this victory. that would be a very, very big win. right now, of course, really electrified republican conventioneers and talked about the latino appeal within the republican party. they hope that this will be a sign that latinos would gravitate to that ted cruises and others and say maybe the republican party is opening its arms to latinos and general. again, it remains to be seen, but that is a big pickup. a guy who was barely know a little more than a year ago moving into the united states senate. also, expected toward off competition. you might remember, there was talk because of the poor response to hurricane sandy. new yorkers would take it out on any incumbent running, including senator gillibrand. that was not to be the case. i don't have the exact link

numbers, but she survived. there is no net pick up going on here for republicans who hope to retake the senate. the night is still young. but so are they. what other whining about? we're being very nice. we have to go said rich edson. a gauge right now at how all this is going on in going down at obama headquarters. >> very slowly. they just allowing the crowd in here. these are all obama supporters, people who have made calls for the president, volunteered. president obama of site spending time with his family, slowly getting updates on how the election is going. what we are hearing is basically what we're seeing right now. incredibly tight race that we are looking to florida, virginia, ohio, all of the state's right now they're too close to call for any indication

of which way this is going to break. there has been an awful lot of confidence among the obama folks of the last few days, especially predicting a wind that only in the electoral college, but the popular vote. predicting it to go the other way. that confidence, they say, all comes from the fact that they had been seeing consistent leads in polls throughout the battle ground states, many of them throughout the country and certainly enough, they said, to take over the top of this. still and wait and see mode. a sense of confidence that you would possibly get from any type of candidate at this point in a race that is this close. and so well there is confidence to make it is to be expected that he would not hear anything else out of the obama campaign this early in such a close race. neil: okay. thank you. one of the state's we will be keeping a close eye on. keep in mind, nevada is interesting for a number of

reasons. ignored the four electoral votes, but it could be interesting in terms of the role of one gary johnson, the third party, libertarian party candidate who might eat into, ironically, barack obama's support in the state because among a lot of more socially liberal his views on pro marijuana, not only for medicinal purposes might help tip the scale. that state is very close. barack obama is favored to win it, but that would be one of those unusual states. gary johnson could be the reason i know that seems perverse. he could take it away from mitt romney in states like new mexico. again, those are feature states coming up. the electoral vote tally as we have right now, mitt romney has about 149 electoral votes to 127

for barack obama. i only hasten to add, there is nothing jilting to that. nothing has been unusual. the red states were expected. the blue states were expected. we have been pencilling in pennsylvania. that, of course, could change things a great deal, but it is not definite yet. we are now confirming that barack obama will win pennsylvania, a state that was crucial. many said it would be an ohio offset for mitt romney if he were to lose ohio. maybe surprisingly to pick up pennsylvania, a state that he was getting very competitive in in the waning days of the race. obviously he did not win it, so that puts even more pressure on him now to win ohio were to cobble together wisconsin and iowa, but pennsylvania, where he campaigned just today when

last-minute bit of effort to try to capture this. it was not enough. this will not be the final percentages, but we can estimate was 7 percent of the vote in the barack obama will win pennsylvania. we have a horse race here. we almost seven tied electoral race here. yaks. more after this.

music is a universal language. but when i was in an accident... i was worried the health care system spoke a language all its own with unitedhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. information on my phone. connection to doctors who get where i'm from. and tools to estimate what my care may cost. so i never missed a beat. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me?

i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can. that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

♪ >> from the fox business headquarters in new york city, here again is neil cavuto. neil: all right. right to script, but each campaign going into the race. all we have had is a wink and nod and prayer states, the one that, you know, maybe the polls are tight enough. pennsylvania was one of those states for the romney forces, but there were not kidding. it was not a head fake or what robert gives and others said, a

hail mary pass. it was a legitimate feeling among the romney folks that it was closing in. the polls are closing, and it was reason enough for the candidates to do something unusual. show of the day of voting, as he did, in ohio, but it was not to be. barack obama picks up the keystone state and its 20 electoral votes. that is ultimately what the polls said what happened, did happen. lou dobbs back with me. everything is coming to fruition as expected, but there has to be a little disappointment of the romney felt because they had hoped. >> as they extended the campaign into pennsylvania and everyone talking about fool's gold for republicans, it turned out to be fool's gold. but it is also representative of what governor romney is up against this evening. and what he has been up against since it began this campaign. one of the interesting, amongst a host of interesting statistics about pennsylvania and other states that are battleground states is the money that is not counted often by this -- these

cougars and political journalists. among those is some many people in estate are drying medicaid, are on state disability, how many of them are on medicare? because at that who is working for the government, who is doing this. but you are talking about nearly 40 percent of the state of pennsylvania is on some form of entitlement. it is extraordinary. neil: and that doesn't move with -- movie is it again this champion of. neil: and this does include social security. this is a tough situation. is the 47% coming back to governor romney. what he did was withdrawn from the 47% and talk about dependency. he got pushed away from it by the media. more than actually president obama. and this is what he's up against. this is what he's up against as we look at what is happening in florida. actually, there are fewer people

on disability, on medicare, even medicaid in the state of florida than the state of pennsylvania. neil: by the way, we get confirmation, i don't think this is -- a fox said violet, but the house is expected to stay republican. the question is by the margin the we have now, but it is expected to stay republican. neil: always worthy of note. neil: the senate is in question. so far no net pickup. what do you think happens? do you think they come close to madness a dark? >> my personal opinion is no cigar. this has been a disused effort. so many self-inflicted wounds, as you know, whether it is taken from a primarily a can't. neil: the murdoch, right now he is down a couple of points. >> and by the way, it's not over. but the fact is, they have this supreme opportunity. thirty-three seats.

mitch mcconnell, sitting there, the majority leader calculating this up. puts down his japan says, you tell me. they won't pay off. neil: well, it can. what do you sense of these states right now that are going to form and going to script as we take a look at this? that is not representative of what is going on. we cannot call a winner, but it is much tighter than that indicates. murdoch, hinting at, shot himself in the foot. the race that was his to lose. the tea partier who be richard lugar. joe donnelly then emerge out of nowhere to have a credible shot at tipping this. he just might, but too close to call. for the tea party, what can we glean from this? >> the tea party, as far as i conceive cal at center. it is very difficult for meets the in any way to discern the presence of the tea party in any

state on any race n which they can raise the standard and say, we did it. maybe we will see something change of the course of this evening, but as of right now i don't see that the party as a major factor in this race, and when you think about the power, the energy that it brought to the republican party in 2010, it is as if the republican establishment wanted to crush the life out of the tea party itself, either directly or by simply pushing it away. neil: to that point, the tea party were out in droves to help mitt romney tried to win wisconsin. it is not to be. wisconsin goes to barack obama and its ten electoral votes. that was one of the states that, again, if mitt romney were to lose ohio he had the back a plan of cobbling together wisconsin. his options now, as the night in sues, putting more pressure on winning ohio. >> ohio is becoming increasingly

, if i can structure it this way, increasingly absolutely critical to governor romney's chances are tonight. we have a long way to go. neil: absolutely. >> we are going to see what happens in the last two counties, see what happens in hamilton county, cincinnati. neil: uprising. that went to barack about 04 years ago and shocked everyone and made the race of a point. >> again, we are watching. this governor battling hard against what are some extraordinarily difficult empirical realities and economic realities, and that is, the dependence, the culture of dependency, and denied using this as a pejorative but a statement of fact. these states, nearly every one of these battleground states, the true battleground states heart so permeated with federal programs and dependency on federal programs, we can talk

about pennsylvania. we were talking with bent pins. oh, yes. energy will be a big deal. energy, well, i better rephrase what i was about to say. energy does not amount to much. and the fact of the matter is those federal entitlement programs amount to a great deal. we have to have an understanding , a realistic understanding of the part of the republican party about the power of that. there is no question that the democratic party understands it. as much as the republicans and conservatives may have borate, it is constructing a barrier to all wall that has to be scaled by idealistic republicans to have the best of intentions and i think an extraordinarily correct ideas. there's just one problem. they're facing reality that has to be overcome. neil: quickly, the of the bailout. how much do you think the governor's position against heard him in wisconsin and michigan and pennsylvania?

>> i think that to some degree, and i can't speak specifically to the states, in michigan, certainly, but his position on the bailout, i think, was poorly articulated. by the way, we are not in any way -- it looks like that will be determined if anything, but i think in michigan it hurt him because he was, perhaps, just in sufficiently expressive of a what he was really saying. because when it came down to the structure bankruptcy, the packaged bankruptcy that would have been put forward under his plan, that is exactly where the obama rescue, the salvation of the automobile industry which, by the way, began under president george w. bush, which is president has failed to take note of, which is surprising. neil: just the bad stuff. just the bad stuff. >> but that it was unfortunate because he could have been clear. he could have been more articulate the issue.

and one of the things that i would -- that i think will be examined of a course, when the governor prevails and the president prevails, and that is the degree to which he underestimated the appeal of the pure business communication. he talked about, throughout the campaign, debt and deficits. embraced rain and brought him into the ticket, but this race has been and until we are results are tonight is about the middle-class. neil: paul ryan did not deliver and wisconsin. >> did not command that will be difficult. i have thought, by the way, congressman ryan is a very able congressman. but i thought from the outset, the great liability for him as a campaigner for governor romney and for the republicans theater is that he can become something of a 01 note pony, if i can make

a few metaphors. and he needs -- you know, this is a message from governor romney about growth and prosperity in generating of manorialism and creating jobs, millions of jobs. and then to come back to deficits and budgets, which are extraordinarily abstracted difficult. neil: you needed that chalkboard >> the most attentive it can become an abstraction. the pain that is out there, 23 million unemployed and underemployed americans is so concrete, so real and so painful neil: well put. as we are looking at this, the way you couple together romney victory tonight is not impossible, but the options have narrowed considerably with the loss of wisconsin and michigan and pennsylvania. i stress as we are tied up here on the electoral votes, 153 apiece, all three of those states were hope for within the romney camp, but they were not expected. i only mention it in the context

of saying, if you lose ohio it would have been nice to have of wisconsin and added to a possible iowa to offset the 18 votes you might lose i'll, but those options run away, you hope to pick up florida. you hope to pick up -- that is, if your mitt romney, virginia. again, the race is still too close to call. so many voters waiting. they extended the voting deadline to 10:00 p.m. eastern tonight. it could be letter to accommodate that. mike huckabee taking in all of this. what do you make of the loos of those big states, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, states, i think a lot of room the folks would say whispering, we think we could win one of two of them. >> i think it is a disappointment to all of the romney supporters, including me. you would love to think that wisconsin certainly with paul ryan of the ticket would go that way. i wanted to believe pennsylvania, the that was a stretch. at the michigan, never saw

michigan happening. but that really means that now ohio and virginia become just absolutely, you know, critical. i still think romney was florida. i am convinced he will pull it out for four reasons. the seniors will vote for romney because they did not buy into the scare tactics of obama. i think that romney will do better than most republicans do with the jewish vote here because obama scared the daylights out of them with his policies toward israel. i think the military vote, both active and retired, very significant here in florida. and i think the christian, pro-life, per-family vote is very big. i do think that. neil: florida is very close to my right now. separated by about 1,000 votes. i don't know what it is about the state. whoever wins it has to win by a few hundred votes. it is what it is. i'm wondering, if it is disclosed in the polls have some , the governor up by five points, probably not realistic,

but certainly close to that. 81 percent of the precincts in. a lawsuit for mitt romney, i would imagine, would be fatal, what did not? >> you know, it's hard to say it would be fatal, but up put it this way. at that point you're looking for the polls. you hope there is still one at the carotid artery. he needs to win florida. if he doesn't he has to win both virginia and ohio. it could be a long night, or it could be all over by 11:00 tonight. is just one of those things. some surprises. i think the big surprise of florida has been the margin of victory for bill melson in the senate race. that wasn't even close. neil: it really wasn't. i think connie mack was disappointed in that respect was connie mack disappointed in that respect? >> governor, i want to pass on something. that is another fact that is going on. we don't appreciate the fact that all of the americans have gotten something from the government. they get something from the

government and i disproportionate amounts that some of these states like pennsylvania and to a lesser degree wisconsin, it is affecting the vote. in other words, the guy supervising that were support those programs that you value is a guy you value or support. i think that is a good assessment. i so want to believe that there is some altruism left in this country where people take john kennedy's challenge to heart and it's not so much what our country can do for us, but what we can do for the country. i'm beginning to think that we lost john kennedy's voice and we have lost that spirit. that is not a democrat or republican spirit. that is an american spirit. i wish that republicans will better communicate the idea that relieves to be bedrock to

republicans. it is about empowering the individual to be able to live the life they want to live rather than the light that the government has prescribed for them. i would never want the government telling me how much cheese i will get at the end of each month and they get to make that decision. the government won't be able to restrain an. neil: and. neil: you put that in terms i can readily understand. back to my friend, lou dobbs. indiana, a pickup for democrats. neil: lou: that was the seed that was guaranteed.

there is a limit to the absurdity that they will project. we will most likely see it again. to lose those seats is malpractice. it is utterly malpractice. my heart is in the same place as this. there is a high place in our society for all tourism. idealism, and i think it is -- it is what forms the rest of us as americans. many americans have been out of work for six months or longer. to suggest that there our entitlement programs, to which they avail themselves, who

failed the people. this party -- the republican party has got to come up with the answers. this path is sustainable and we are going to be a socialist nation with out if the republicans do not formulate a response to every working man and woman in this country. i believe that with my heart and soul. neil: they are running out of options to do it tonight.

they revolt within the republican party -- murdoch was cruising to an easy win, he led by 18 points. and then those comments on the races. what was supposed to be an easy and sustained republican seat. and outputs to the democrats. this night that republicans were expecting to pick up at least one or two senate seats, so far it is a net gain for democrats tonight. right now committee options for mitt romney on the presidential level are running few and far between or if he has to win florida now. he has to win virginia now. with 83% of the precincts in, time is a waste into that state.

it is fair to say if he doesn't do that, he has a herculean task ahead of him. everyoneas goals. take the steps to reach your with u with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps. since 1863 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, preserve, and pass along their wealth. so their footsteps can help the next generation find their own pa. all of us serving you. us bank with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process --

from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying.. [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

neil: welcome back. and it is close and the electoral votes. mitt romney -- this is not representing a pickup in wisconsin. they chose tommy thompson leading the race.

when everything is said and done, he will fail at winning this state. he had a very tough nomination battle, he survived that and tammy baldwin had been beating him up unmercifully. he never really survived that. et party threat and lou dobbs pointed out how potent the tea party threat was. but it might have hurt republican chances in general. as in the case of indiana, they lost what should have been a given in the case of trinity losing out to a democratic upstart sandra smith is keeping options open. a lot of states have closed off. sanda: there is still an option left on the table. five battleground states that has not yet been called.

this would involve the state of virginia, which is one of the first to close tonight. too close to call. north carolina, also one of the first to close tonight. ohio is obviously a key state for mitt romney to win this evening. eighteen electoral votes. we are still waiting on results from florida. too close to call. twenty-nine electoral votes in iowa in the picture. just six electoral votes, but this would bring governor romney to the 79 swing states electoral votes that he needs. so if you were to take these buy battleground state, he could certainly be on his way to the white house. one other thing i want to show you as i look at the results in the map right now, looking at ohio itself. i did just look as i entered into the results map here. something that i wanted to point out was that the two counties that we have been watching in the state of ohio, getting this working again, franklin and hamilton. they both have turned blue,

which means the results are in from those individual counties. columbus with ohio state, obama has taken that county, and then there was also hamilton county pommel which is the cincinnati area. very high poverty rates. they were hoping that mitt romney would pull that off, the president obama has taken hamilton county. he won that last year. giving him a huge boost in the election for the first time that a democrat had taken that county. neil: are you saying that he one hamilton county tonight? neil: that could get him ohio. sanda: is a big sign. those two counties could get him ohio. half the reason romney was there tonight -- that pay off? effects not exactly sure what is happening with our map right

now. as we look at the surrounding counties, it is blue, indeed. president obama has taken some key areas. we are looking at the new gz area there. we are seeing some of those crucial counties won by president obama. imagine that the philadelphia area, the suburbs surrounding the philadelphia area were key. we have seen president obama pull that off. but the state has not yet gone back to the general result yet. neil: invectives to president

obama, that could be the difference right there. the president winning that secure vote, a five-point victory in ohio. normally republicans stack of the vote in the cincinnati area. all of that. if that does not materialize, that would make it an uphill battle for mitt romney. cheryl casone he are. reporter: you have been talking about this exact issue. a lot of the numbers are coming in the fox business right now. they are coming out of the battleground states. let's talk about ohio. it's nothing that come as you all know. constant questions that governor

romney was asking while he's on the campaign trail. are you better off than you are now than you were four years ago? let's take a look 25% say that they were better off. this is today as they walked out of the polling stations. 43% say my situation right now is actually the same. 31% is a high number. saying that things are actually worse off for them right now. this is likely a must win state for governor romney. this issue could be a bit perjurious. who would handle the issue of medicare better? 50% said it is the president. 46% saying that mitt romney would better handle medicare. the president has an edge. but i wanted to take a look at

this. 46% say the president can better handle the economy. when it comes to the economy, mitt romney has that lead. we will keep watching this as the night goes on. neil: cheryl casone, thank you so much. hamilton county has now gone for barack obama. it is very likely that he may win the state. it makes it more likely. lou: we are going to have further information that will give us the final verdict.

when we see who has carried those two counties, we will know more. it is very difficult to do just short of impossible. you know, hope springs eternal. other clichés seep out. when one resort to cliché, it usually means you're pretty desperate. in this case, the governor's chances are, as i say, remote. there is a tough and strong battle all the way through. it is not looking promising tonight. neil: again, it depends.

this went back to barry goldwater. that set the stage for what would be a long night for john mccain. not to say it will be a long night for mitt romney. there is other we could get the victory, but this makes it harder. in these key states, the vote is very tight. in florida, it is to fan mail. they are fighting tooth and nail. mitt romney was leading consistently, sometimes it was fractionally over the edge. enough that he would lead with

about 84% of the precinct reporting -- if you lose ohio, you are in deep doo doo. for republicans hoping to seize the senate. assuming that barack obama is reelected, they are down an additional fee. they are now up to needing five seats in the senate. we could be looking at the same configuration. speak your it is the judgment of the folks.

whoever ultimately loses this race tonight, it is unlikely that we will see the same responses. we may have to adapt to a world that is far different than what we now. also, the senatorial committee and the republican house committee, they will need to share some leadership.

[talking over each other] [talking over each other] neil: that is where we stand now. we shall see

neil: before electrical loads of new hampshire goes to the president. again, the four electoral votes of new hampshire go to the president. again, some of these other states -- you can possibly make up what you did and get better. in massachusetts, scott brown has lost his senate seat. elizabeth warren will get a nazi. that is another pickup for the democrats in the senate.

it doesn't seem inconceivable that 23 of the seats were in democratic hands only nine were in republican hands. right now, the republicans are down. gerri willis at the headquarters of mitt romney. how are are they letting all of this again right now? gerri: here is what is going on. we just had an address made to the crowd. she said there is nothing to worry about. but there are questions and concerns and optimism are the same time. people here say it's not over until it's over. i have to tell you, i ran into a trio of economic advisers. all here watching these results come in. they are talking about how important the economic story is for this election. of course, what has been

described as the model for mitt romney's campaign, saying that it is still intact and still working as expected. the most important votes for mitt romney will come very late in the night. it will diminish the effect of this early voting. mitt romney has a very difficult mountain in front of him to climb. the people here, taking about what could happen tonight. they are expecting it to go very late. again, mitt romney's trio of economic advisers, wanting what with everybody else. hoping for the best. neil: you know, my math is always subpar, so i always refer to you on this. if the states go as expected, and all the states have, then barack obama is on track to winning 270 electoral votes it

needs. they need to start winning states that there were not originally expected. they must realize that. or are they just waiting out some other things, like recounts or initiatives? what do you think? gerri: we were talking about in ohio and florida in particular, parts of those states that are still in contention. the panhandle is still waiting for votes to come in. not decided yet. in ohio, questions about what's happening there. they are very optimistic about what is happening in virginia as well. again, nervousness here at the edges. you know, these advisers -- they are watching every reporter. i have to tell you that the biggest fear that we heard, the voting in florida came out

50/50. i have to tell you, we are still waiting for more results. these folks say it will take a very long time to count all of these votes. neil: thank you very much, gerri. i forgot about the panhandle of florida. that is a very strong republican area, but it could take. a little too close for comfort for the romney folks. peter barnes is keeping track of this. the question is by how much of the at the end of the night. the senate has to be a big disappointment, the least thus far. what you make of this? reporter: we are keeping score of all of the returns and races that have been called so far. as you know, it will take 51 votes to take control of the senate. the democrats currently have 53 of those seats if you include the two independents who vote with the democrats. right now at this hour, still about a dozen races left to call

indiana. in other states. the polls will be closing at 10:00 o'clock in nevada and montana, 10:00 o'clock eastern time, nevada is the home of leader harry reid, and dean heller in nevada as well. an appointed person to the sea, trying to hold onto that seat there from a strong challenge by congresswoman shelley berkley. that deal the one thank you very much. just about 30 seconds away from the next state closing. iowa, nevada, utah. lou: it looks like a night in which